Writers are often told their stories need to be organic. Sounds like something that makes sense when you hear it. But identifying elements that are inorganic, and even more challenging, trying to fix them, can be elusive. It can also be frustrating when you need a certain plot point for the progression of your story and it sounds like someone is telling you that you can’t have it. Let’s back up and define what organic means in terms of storytelling. … Read More »

Poems are not short stories. This may seem like an obvious statement, but so many times I see struggling writers that seem to think they need a beginning, a middle and an end in a poem — all things needed by story writers. Yes, there are certainly poems that are more narrative in nature, like ballads and epics. Many of these form the backbone to Western literature, like Homer’s tales, Beowulf, Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, Milton’s Paradise Lost, etc.  But … Read More »

One subject of writing craft that’s always fascinated me is the intersection of fiction and creative nonfiction. I’ve studied and read both over the years, learning that there’s a very thin line separating them. In most cases, a book’s label boils down to what the writer wants to call it. Or what they’re comfortable saying it truly is. This was one of the struggles I had with my first novel. With a professional background in journalism, I intended to write … Read More »

So far, we’ve tackled shaping your main character and developing powerhouse secondary characters that help your MC along their journey.  Next comes those background characters—the hair stylist who knows everything about everyone, the delivery driver who leaves behind a clue, the newsboy on the corner who overhears things he shouldn’t, the Good Samaritan who stops to help, and the psychologist who drives Uber shifts to give free advice. Like your primary and secondary characters, tertiary characters should be three-dimensional and … Read More »

Some while back, one of my blogging colleagues wrote that even before writers are lovers of words, they must be lovers of sentences. Without disagreeing at all, I would like to explore a little more the sense in which we must also be lovers of words, logophiles—it’s a step of detail in our writing that can’t be bypassed. Chances are you’re already a logophile. I sure am. As a kid, while the rest of the family watched “Have Gun, Will … Read More »

People love to give advice. Start any new venture and you’re bound to run into someone who can inundate you with well-meant words of caution or a litany of rules that must be followed. Writing is not immune to these bouts of unsolicited free advice. Whether we like it or not, writing has rules that we must adhere to. Or do we? Writing is an art, a craft meant to be free from the restrictions of the structured world. Indeed, … Read More »